Winemaker Notes
Enjoy with filet mignon, duck and ripe cheeses.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
The cherry and smoky undertones are so intriguing this vintage. Full-bodied, dense and very layered. So complex and flavorful. Wet earth, spices, black pepper and fruit. Needs time to come together. Wait until 2022 but so wonderful now.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2015 Beaune 1er Cru Clos des Mouches has a superb bouquet with passion fruit, honeysuckle and jasmine, very expressive at this early stage with wonderful, vibrant fruit concentration. The palate is delicious now! Outstanding balance here, razor-sharp acidity, just a touch of lemongrass rubbing the citrus fruit up the wrong way and imposing superb tension on the finish. This is a Beaune Premier Cru that is punching well above its weight and comes recommended. Range: 92-94
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
While the city represents the epicenter of wine production in Burgundy, the term, “Beaune” also refers to the specific sub-appellation of the greater Côte de Beaune, whose vineyards climb up the pastoral slopes that border the city to its west. Originally founded as a Roman camp by Julius Caesar, the city of Beaune eventually became the seat of the dukes of Burgundy until the 13th century. Today it is home to top négociants such as Louis Jadot, Joseph Drouhin, Louis Latour, and Bouchard Père et Fils.
The appellation, dominated by Pinot Noir plantings, represents a lovely and charming place to begin to understand red Burgundy. Its sandy soils create light and supple, floral driven Pinot Noir. These wines are designed to be enjoyed within five to 10 years. The vineyards of Beaune span a broad swath of Premier Crus from Savigny-lès-Beaune to its border with Pommard.
Chardonnay acreage here has been increasing here in the more recent years.